Minutes
Attending: Patricia O'Neill (chair), Susan Barnes (recorder), Tony Cosgrave, Steve Couch, Michael Engle, Peter MacDonald, Nancy Skipper, Meryl White
Patricia reminded the group that a draft WWW policy is up for comment at http://www.library.cornell.edu/design/policydft.html.
Also, Patricia will be talking to Catherine Murray-Rust about the possibility of hiring a designer to assist with Web page layout and graphics.
The rest of the meeting was spent looking, with Tony, at his committee's work revising the CUL Home Page (http://www.cornell.edu:3002/library/newcul.html); and at the Single Point of Entry "straw man" (http://www.library.cornell.edu/DLWG/diglib.htm); in light of the design criteria developed by the committee. Examination of the draft revised CUL Home Page brought to light some suggestions which Tony will take back to his committee (such as need to specify image sizes, additional nagivational aids, location of "comments or suggestions"). The discussion also revealed additions or corrections needed for the draft design document (such as the need for navigational guides -- in the specs and in the document -- pointing to tables of contents or tops of pages; need for consistency in punctuation; clarification of "mailto" guideline; addition of requirement to use the "globe" icon to indicate open resources and the "C" icon to denote restricted resources). Michael took detailed notes and will edit the document; Susan will add the "globe" and "C" icons to the icon section of the document.
Discussion of the "straw man" led to the following suggestions which were sent to the Digital Library Working Group:
1. Size of CUL banner graphic should be indicated in the html tag for quicker loading.
2. A responsibility statement is needed at the bottom of each page, including author (or authoring group) and email contact.
3. Last revision date should also be at bottom of each page.
4. The pages do not have a link back to the CUL Home Page. Committee members assumed that was because these demonstration pages are intended to replace the CUL Home Page.
5. Labeling and terminology should be consistent across pages, ie, Cornell Online Catalog.
6. It is not clear what the differences are between "Search the Catalog," "Guided Search," and "Self-directed Search." Although committee members praised the first Single Point of Entry demonstration page for being clean and concise, there was some feeling that either: a) the 3 buttons might be combined to one button leading to a page with explanations of the 3 choices; or b) some brief explanations of the buttons could be included on the top page.
7. Most members of the committee felt that the Single Point of Entry demonstration page needs some graphic work to make it more welcoming. Members commented that it seems rather stark. There was some debate about how to resolve this while maintaining a dignified, scholarly tone appropriate to the Cornell University Library's entry point. Assistance from a graphic designer might prove valuable.
8. On pages beyond the first one: On the top, the most noticeable icon or heading should describe the current page location. For example, on the "Search the Catalog" page the "Guided Search" and "Self-directed Search" icons at the top are more eyecatching than the "Search the Catalog" heading. It should be the "Search the Catalog" concept that stands out at that point, because that's where the user is. Top icons seemed topheavy and too large.
The committee limited its comments to design aspects of the demonstration pages. Other comments and questions will be submitted by individual committee members to the Digital Library Working Group via the blue feedback button on the Single Point of Entry demonstration page.
In our next meeting we will look at the Physical Sciences home page. In future meetings we may invite developers of home pages to share their pages with us, before these are mounted on the Library Server.
Next meeting will be 3/19, 10:30, Olin 106. Our assignment before then: take a look at the Physical Sciences home page.
Susan Barnes
Added March 7, 1996
MOE